"Lilies?"
"Ah, no."
After saying something pointless and getting that question thrown at me, I hurriedly waved my hand.
I felt my face burn hot.
It felt like the air around us had turned strangely different in an instant.
Even in the meantime, the kiss didn't stop and continued on.
-Chyureup, chup.
The sound of lips meeting spread softly through the quiet space.
At first, the kiss had started like a light brush, but before I knew it, it was going on longer and deeper than I expected.
Senior Sister's soft lips overlapped Cheonhae's as if seeking them, and the feeling of their breaths seeping into each other came through vividly even from far away.
‘Isn't this kind of long?’
For a moment, the thought flickered through my head—wasn't it a bit long?
Cheonhae had definitely said it would only give a little, but the time felt longer than I thought.
With the surrounding air turned oddly charged, the eyes of those standing there stayed nailed in place, watching that scene.
That was when it happened.
"St, stop it."
Cheonhae was pushing Senior Sister's face away with both hands, crying out desperately for her to stop.
Because her voice was blocked by lips, it didn't come out properly, turning into a trembling, sob-like sound.
But Senior Sister didn't stop.
Rather, with arms that looked so slender, she pulled Cheonhae tight and continued the kiss even deeper.
How that kind of monstrous strength was coming out of such a frail body, it was almost like she was going to devour her.
As force went into Senior Sister's forearms, Cheonhae's body looked like it was completely bound.
When I looked at the eyes, Senior Sister's blue irises were rippling with madness.
With the focus blurred like she had lost her reason, only instinct burned.
"Sh-Shouldn't we stop that?"
From the side, Ji-ryeon asked in a flustered voice.
She too was bewildered by the sudden situation, stamping her feet, and I was just as stunned, standing there blankly.
Fortunately, Gun Hye-rin and Hwa-eun ran in quickly and pulled the two apart.
"Pl-Please calm down, Ancestor."
"Senior Sister, stop. Cheonhae is asking you to let go, isn't she?"
-Chyureup.
With one last long sound, a thin, faint thread of saliva between their lips caught the light and glittered.
For a moment, it was like the air was swallowed by silence.
It was the instant the two separated like that.
Cheonhae shouted at Senior Sister in a resentful, tearful voice.
"Hiiing. I told you to st-stop!"
Then Senior Sister, as if coming to her senses, ducked her head quickly with an embarrassed look as her face turned bright red.
"S-Sorry. I c-couldn't stop. Suddenly everything went white right in front of me."
Looking at Senior Sister's reaction, it felt like my guess had been right.
If she hadn't felt something else through the kiss, that is.
That madness that had flickered in Senior Sister's eyes wasn't ordinary desire.
So I was making up my mind to examine Senior Sister's condition more closely when Cheonhae spoke, tearfully.
"If you do this, I get small again!"
"Small again?"
It was then.
Suddenly, Cheonhae's body began to shrink.
Like a balloon losing air, slowly—yet faster than I expected—her body size decreased.
The mature figure of a woman in her early twenties turned in an instant into the look of a girl in her late teens, then into the younger build of an early-teen, and finally she shrank down to as small as a five-year-old kid.
Cheonhae's clothes became loose as she shrank, to the point they dragged on the floor.
Of course, the clothes shrank again too.
Everyone around held their breath and watched that scene.
At that moment, it felt like something smacked my head hard.
‘Damn it. I forgot for a moment.’
Cheonhae was a Red Sea jellyfish spirit creature.
Other jellyfish regenerate within two or three days if they're injured or their tentacles are cut, but the Red Sea jellyfish was different.
The Red Sea jellyfish, called immortal, didn't need to bother regenerating only a part when the wound was big or her survival was threatened.
Because she could use a more efficient method.
That was a reset.
She would return her whole body to childhood, and grow again from the start.
A mysterious principle that completely initializes aging and damage, making theoretically infinite life possible.
Because the tentacles had been seriously damaged by the kiss, it seemed the body had automatically reset.
I could see the spiritual energy flowing out from Cheonhae's small body shining purely.
Cheonhae, now small, tried to run toward me, but her foot caught on the loose clothing and she toppled forward.
"Hwaaaah. I finally grew up and even got a body. When am I going to grow again?"
"Hey, hey. It's okay. Cheonhae. You worked hard. Uncle will get you spirit stones, so stop. If you eat those, you'll grow again soon."
"Reeally?"
"Of course."
For now, I decided to give Cheonhae about three low-grade spirit stones from what I had left.
It wouldn't make her grow fast, but it was meant as comfort.
The way the shrunken Cheonhae sat on the floor, sniffling, was so pitiful that if I gave her even a gift like this, she would recover a little spirit.
"Hwa-eun, please give Cheonhae about three of the spirit stones I left with you."
"Okay, So-ryong."
A married man has no private property.
So the things I got from Hwang-u were left with my wives.
That was why I told her to prepare some for Cheonhae.
And when I approached Senior Sister to examine her body, Senior Sister lowered her head and apologized first.
Her pale cheeks still held a flush, and she clearly looked at a loss from embarrassment.
"I-I'm sorry, Junior Brother. I suddenly acted disgracefully."
"No. It wasn't a big accident. Are you all right?"
"Huh? Well, nothing in particular—"
It was just as Senior Sister said she didn't feel anything in particular.
Senior Sister's brows suddenly furrowed.
Her pretty brows twisted faintly, and then in an instant she clutched her chest.
I saw her pale hand grip the collar tight.
And then came the sound of retching.
"Uwk."
"Senior Sister!"
Senior Sister suddenly vomited up a mouthful of red blood.
The vivid red blood splashed down, and the stench of blood stabbed my nose.
Everyone froze, holding their breath, and I quickly sent Senior Sister outside the Poison-Things Fragrance.
Because if my guess was wrong and this was blood-vomiting from poisoning, I would have to go outside and detox her.
Now that I had registered Cheonhae, I was immune to Cheonhae's poison, so I could go out and use poison arts to detox Senior Sister's poison.
"I'll check Senior Sister's condition directly outside."
"Understood, Master."
"Hurry back, sir."
After quickly explaining the situation to my wives and coming outside, I opened my eyes to see blood pooled thickly on the ground.
Senior Sister was continuing to vomit blood.
Dark, black-red blood covered the floor.
"Uweaek."
"Wh-What is going on!?"
Chief Steward Mong-a, who had been guarding my body, was supporting Senior Sister and didn't know what to do.
Chief Steward's face was pale as she looked at the blood smeared at the corner of Senior Sister's mouth.
A flash of wariness toward me passed through her eyes.
It seemed she thought I had done that to her.
It wasn't a wrong thought, but I didn't have the room to explain everything. The situation was urgent.
"There was a bit of something, and it happened while I was treating Senior Sister. I'll check for now."
I quickly took Senior Sister's wrist and checked her condition.
I could feel the pulse beating in the thin wrist.
I tried to put qi in and look for poisonous qi, but in that moment the energy went in with a slide.
Since I knew Senior Sister's blood-vessel state, I put in a truly tiny amount of energy, but it felt like the energy slid in more than I expected.
Like water soaking into dry ground, it was absorbed naturally.
Thinking that was strange, I swept through the blood vessels before looking for poison, and my god.
Amazingly, Senior Sister's blood vessels had been worse than an ordinary mortal's, but they had improved drastically to about the level of someone who had entered martial arts.
As blocked meridians opened, I could clearly feel the flow of spiritual energy circulating.
When I looked for poisonous qi, it was only faintly felt at the fingertips and the tips of the feet. It seemed my guess had been exactly right.
If it was the fingertips and the tips of the feet, then when she reverted to a Blue Sea Swallow, wouldn't that be the fin parts?
Originally, that's where Blue Sea Swallows store their poison, so it was moving correctly.
It was a sign that poisonous qi was concentrating into the cerata and instinct was awakening.
Then vomiting this blood was a reaction from something that had been blocked for so long opening up.
The state of the blood being dark black-red meant it really was old, dead blood.
It seemed long-accumulated stagnant blood had been discharged.
‘Whew, I got scared for no reason.’
It was at that moment, as I felt somewhat relieved.
Senior Sister, having finished vomiting blood, wore a refreshed expression.
She had looked frail and bloodless, but her cheeks were tinged pink.
I had thought that bloodless look was a racial trait, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
As healthy color returned, Senior Sister's beauty shone even more.
"I-I'm fine."
"Miss, are you all right!? What happened!?"
"J-Junior Brother just treated me, that's all."
"What kind of treatment makes you vomit blood like this?"
"No. The treatment seems to have gone well. My body feels incredibly refreshed. To the point I've never felt it even once since I was born."
Senior Sister sat on the bed for a moment and closed her eyes.
It seemed like she was contemplating her own body.
Soon, Senior Sister opened her eyes, lowered her head, and conveyed her gratitude.
"Thank you. Junior Brother. I've received a great grace I truly can't repay."
"No. Senior Sister. We're family—how can you be that polite to family?"
In the sect, if it's Senior Sister, isn't it basically your real older sister?
So I said there was no need to be that grateful, but Senior Sister was thanking me greatly, as if her body had gotten much better.
After being sickly for her whole life and getting a healthy body, how happy would she be?
But it couldn't celebrate already.
She had gotten healthier, but the treatment wasn't complete yet.
"And Senior Sister. The treatment hasn't even started yet."
"What? It hasn't even started?"
"Yes. Today I only checked a little to see if my guess was right, and the real treatment can only be achieved once we find the spirit creature that fits Senior Sister."
When my explanation ended, Senior Sister made an expression like she couldn't believe it.
"Then you're saying I can get even better than this?"
Smiling, I nodded.
"After a full body rebirth, you'll be able to break through the realm that was blocked and grow rapidly."
"F-Full body rebirth."
"Miss!"
Chief Steward Mong-a hugged Senior Sister and rejoiced loudly.
The two hugged and rejoiced, then asked me,
"Then how do we treat her? Do we have to couple again with that one?"
Tears welled even in Chief Steward's eyes.
"Couple!? Ah, Miss, who did you couple with!?"
"Ah, no."
Senior Sister was asking if she had to kiss Cheonhae again, but for the time being, Cheonhae was a problem.
We couldn't have her reset again with her shrunken body.
And Cheonhae wasn't even a jellyfish that Blue Sea Swallows used as a staple food.
The poison of the Red Sea jellyfish wasn't optimized for storing lethal poison.
We had to find another suitable jellyfish.
"No. Cheonhae is difficult for the time being, and that kid doesn't have much poison in her tentacles, so she probably won't help beyond this.
So we have to find another jellyfish that suits Senior Sister."
"One that suits me? How?"
"Just in case, we should go to that place called the Sea of the Nine Heavens."
The Sea of the Nine Heavens, even if the chances were small.
It seemed better to go there.
For Senior Sister's body to fully awaken, she would need a highly lethal jellyfish of the lower realm.
That way, when I later met the poison-things connected to Master, I'd be able to hold my head up too.
Isn't curing Master's only blood relative something that earns big points?
And even if the chance was small, if Master was alive, Master would surely be happy that Senior Sister had gotten healthier, and my position would become even more secure.
On top of that, the territory of spirit creatures.
Wasn't it somewhere I had to stop by before ascending to the Eight Thousand?
It seemed a bit dangerous, but if there was the great cause of treating Senior Sister, my wives wouldn't oppose it.
‘A perfect plan.’
